Er... no, i think we're meant to infer that the students in this real, actual, non-theoretical case, were hacking the setup to install and play games, and trashing the operating system... and now they aren't. *shrug*
Or, working with your statement, i think it's fair to say we can infer that non-windows systems are harder to hack than windows systems by your average high school student. Which, while more qualified a statement than yours, is still not something for Microsoft to brag about, right..?
Incidentally, if as some have predicted the result of this is that the kids start learning how to get around in non-windows systems, i say GOOD. Then they'll be learning more than how to evade the "proxy settings" in explorer and playing stupid flash games online. They might actually have a concept of file systems and how computers operate 'n' stuff.
I know. That's why I found it fascinating. I had to double-check the date to make sure it wasn't a leftover April Fools' story...
And of course, now that Someone Influential has gone all Chicken Little on Microsoft, the story's spreading around and inspiring spinoffs. Google News is grabbing about 40 last time I looked. I'm as interested in this effect as I am in the story itself. Maybe more.
Our new head honcho, Mayor Nutter... yes, that it is real name... just implemented this on the 5th.
There are two methods [to sign up]: Either online at www.ReadyNotifyPA.org, or on a cell phone by texting your county code (BUCKS, CHESCO, DELCO, MONTCO or PHILA) and dialing 411911.
411911 indeed. Other than wondering just what the actual volume will be - will i get a (for me, charged) text every time there's a "severe weather alert" i.e. RAIN, frex - do i really wanna give City Hall my cell number? Or is the feeling of extra exposure just an illusion..?
"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke
Is this some kind of inevitable, organizational entropy that accumulates as companies become larger and more ambitious - or is that just what growing, influential orgs tell themselves once they realize they like being growing, influential orgs?
If the "lessons" are as well thought-out and written as TFA, then yeah, as most people suspect, we have Another Empty Gesture To Feel Morally Sup- Uh I Mean Save The Children (and TFA shoulda used the Preview button... sheesh:P ).
On the other hand... i teach at a tech school... and you gotta remember that all the info we steep ourselves in daily and take for granted is not sought out by most people. Its existence, i would even assert, is not really even GUESSED at by most people - judging by the reactions of students when i go into Spam, Malware, identity theft, internet scams, botnets... most people have NO idea about 99% of the stuff we just assume is part of reality.
I'm serious, and i was midly surprised at first - Students range from late teens to un- or underemployed adults seeking retraining - but it turns out, reading tech websites isn't a popular pastime with urban teens and young adults.
Amazingly, also, even though most teens to 20somethings are well known for believing themselves indestructible and invincible, they don't stop and pause in the face of sobering anecdotes about how Bad Things Happen To (other) People, even when it happens on the internet.
Bottom line: we keep whining about the "ignorant users." Okay. We hate when they make stupid choices. All right. We roll our eyes when they display their ineptitude. Fair enough.
Hmm, maybe they should... take a class or something?
Gotta start somewhere. And if this program manages to pound through the collective skulls of just a FEW of these kids that they need to be as careful on the internet as they should be anywhere else, i'll call it a GOOD start.
I think parent and gp are partly right, but... i also think availability begets use.
Like with music, streaming video, and other forms of content creation, people who'd never really think of producing their own stuff (and maybe shouldn't:D ) give it a try.
There are web comics, indie movies, the Machinima crowd... i can see high-end CGI rendered shorts becoming as common as Flash animation.
Yeah it's only one example, but i guess my point is that lots of things happen that aren't thought of before they occur. There's a *lot* of people out there. Give them tools they never had before, and it won't be long before we get a surprise.
Delenn: If the Council has lost its way, if it will not lead... if we have abandoned our covenant... Then the Council should be broken... We must stand with the others -- now, before it's too late! Between the GNU Caste and the OS X Caste, we control two thirds of our forces! And to you I say, listen to the voice of your conscience! Break the Council, and come with me! Our time of isolation is over! We move now, together, or not at all!
Translation: "aaaarrrrrghhhh help us jeebus no geez ack please remaining loyal customers don't gooooooo we're having that VP troutslapped in the basement as penance we lub you we like you! (we need you to fixourcra^H^H^H^H^H^H (we lub working with 'independent third parties,' really we doooooo....!)"
I think calling it "defensive" is an understatement of British proportions. "Desperately, sweatily, forehead-slappingly afraid" might be closer...
i see three levels of issue here - the first one is, assuming no one reads the data who isn't "supposed to," and no one who is supposed to ever abuses that information access, what are the privacy implications?
Secondly, what if the authorized yet fallible humans with access to this data abuse it?
Thirdly, and the one that IMHO needs to be addressed first, is when those who are unauthorized are able to access the information. Not just for the obvious reasons: hacking this info may or may not be easy/feasible/desirable/whatever. But because now those mere-mortal humans who would be authorized and accountable, and already know the system, would be able to not just abuse that information, but leave no trail. Or blame ebil terrists and h4x0rs for it, even better.
Consider: yes, there could be a physical threat, but i'm more worried about yet another vector of information harvesting and tracking. Hello, Mr. Political Dissident, where do you drive? With whom do you associate? How long were you parked there? With sufficient coverage, can i track you in real time like an involuntary GPS?
If employees with access would poke through candidates' passport files, what would they try to get away with THIS in place? (That sound you hear is the Secret Service twitching. I imagine any and all official gummint vehicles have this system neutered - or at least i would HOPE so!)
Bad enough i have to deal with people tracking me online. There is no benefit and no excuse to having this information broadcast in the clear. Bottom line, any system that's approved and authorized to get this info could still get it (and whether we'd want that is another debate) - but don't force me to make it easy and unaccountable.
I have no idea what's going to happen, 'cause i have no clear picture of the structure of Standard Norge and what role / authority / voice the dissenting committee members have. Are the members supposed to be the final say? Or was it a much better organized con game - like, verbal assurances that "oh of course we'll listen to your majority opinion either way," but with no legal obligation to do so? And why does this suddenly remind me of the electoral college:P
Gonna be quite a brouhaha, and i don't think it's hyperbole to declare this a watershed event in the future and credibility of corporate-driven international standards.
oof - have mercy on poor wireshark.org please...
on
Wireshark 1.0 Released
·
· Score: 1, Funny
looks like we've obliterated the poor thing already:(.
er... ok, taking your identity at your word, what is your definition of a "company-wide problem?" X out of every Y workstations needs Z% of its software to be illegal...? A signed order to steal software by the CEO?
Personally, i think the phrase "company-wide problem" is meaningless anyway. Someone was in charge - IT department, company division, one OFFICE, it doesn't matter how high or how low - and it was their responsibility. Take away the "wide:" it is a COMPANY problem.
I've been a sysadmin for companies, and we (IT) would occasionally have to reject users, managers, and even C-levels who wanted "just a copy or two" or their favorite software installed without proper licensing. We were responsible for it, we were responsible for explaining the liability and ethical issues behind our decision not to do it, and the company would be responsible for it. Period.
To quote Mr. Bierce, "Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility." They follow the inverse of the just-following-orders excuse: some underling did it, we didn't know, it's not our fault, it's not policy, it's an isolated insident, we aren't responsible.
Ok, in Creative's little "approach sand, insert head" post, two things leap out at me:
"By enabling our technology and IP to run on sound cards for which it was not originally offered or intended, you are in effect, stealing our goods."
Um what? I've bought the bloody thing and it's mine / i've licensed its use. If i use my old CDs for drink coasters, how is that "stealing" something i've already paid you for? More to the point, if you sold me something originally stating its capabilities as A, B, and C, and now you tell me it's only A, haven't *you* stolen from *me*??
Although i fear the official legal reality supports their inane statement:P. Le sigh.
"When you solicit donations for providing packages like this, you are profiting from something that you do not own."
Er well. That's different. Asking for donations for his work guaranteed a response from Creative. Tactical error there, mate. We'll never know what Creative would have done if he simply freely distributed them and never mentioned money, and Daniel_K has less options to respond.:( oh well.
After careful consideration, sir, I've come to the conclusion that your system sucks.
Did anyone else fall over laughing at that "$20bn a year" bit? How'd they arrive at that carefully calculated number: "gee, i'd sure like 20 billyun dollarz lol." Honestly, if the major ISPs have any brains left at all (debatable, i realize), i don't see them going for this. "Hey can you be the bad guys, charge your customers more, sell them on it, and pass most of the profits on to us? Kthxbye."
I expect the RIAA and their ilk are just going to get weirder and more invasive like this as time goes on, especially if they perceive their powers fading. They say they love a free market, but they love a captive audience more.
of course, while we all greatly enjoyed following the speccing out and design of these machines, the tech was the easy part. I sincerely hope there's the right follow-thru in training, and not one-shot "here's your crash course in the 21st century g'luck buhbye," but ongoing support and training.
I worked at a "high tech" charter school for a while; from laying the cable in the new building, to several months after it opened and class started. It was a mess. All too typical "let's throw technology at a problem and it will Magically Solve Everything By Itself!" Good intentions, poor execution. Hardly anyone on the *staff* had any technical ability. Infrastructure and purchasing decisions were made from political standpoint and funder's/administrations ego trip, not what might be best to introduce people to a completely new world for them. You've seen it all before...
I'm privileged to be teaching nowadays in a similar mission; un- or underemployed adults trying to retrain, at-risk youth, most with little or no technical background or even experience beyond webmail and IM. We take so much of our know-how for granted, it's easy to forget how arcane this is to most people. I guess i'm just saying, i hope the approach doesn't fall into "teach the same stuff the same way but we're reading off a screen instead of paper," y'know?
But here's hoping. And pretty darn cool. That pic of those two kids on those funky green plastic laptops gave me a sudden image of A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer [wikipedia.org]:D
> Like the people in the RIAA, Microsoft just doesn't get it.
I disagree. I mean, you're right in what you say, but i believe that the RIAA and Microsoft get it just fine. They also get that more people realizing that there are, in fact, patentless and open, collaborative, "enlightened self-interest" or self-motivated or any other reason and model of development we like, pursue, and flaunt in front of restrictive structures like MS and the RIAA... they get that these are threats to their inherent rights to live like kings.
When you hear them say something like this and your eyebrows furrow... remember. They aren't stupid. They're not saying it to YOU. They're saying it to be heard, over and over again, by people who might be dangerously close to hearing about alternatives. They're reinforcing their worldview by repeating it as fact, with conviction and a straight face. I think it's called "propaganda" or maybe "social engineering."
"However, wearing something like this on my head would make me look kind of silly in the business world."
Kind of like sticking a little Borg-like flashing widget behind your ear and walking down the street talking to thin air?:D
From what I can see, what is acceptable in the business world morphs as something becomes popular, useful, or trendy with the C-levels. The first adopters will be snickered at; and then if it becomes as ubiquitous as iPods and bluetooth Borg-earpieces, those same snickerers will rush right out and get theirs. Some of them will even brag about how early they got in on it. People are funny.
i know it's fashionable and noble to take any opportunity to denounce someone's drug use, but fact is, phil had more issues than a newsstand. Go read VALIS...
the flip side of your coin is maybe the mainstream would make better visionaries if they tried a dangerous chemical now and then besides alcohol, tobacco, the atmosphere, and the opiate of the masses...
i think this is more to illuminate the idea Google and others try to spread that paid links != dubious links. Guess what, America! Nothing's more dubious than a bought-and-paid-for "looka me i'm beyond reproach" tag!
Bands dominate YOUR myspace. Log out and try visiting as an anonymous user. From there it's pretty obvious: idiots dominate myspace.
Dude, THAT'S THE POINT! Same goes on any online game, shared space, chatroom, mailing list, or what-have-you: why waste mental clockcycles on idiots when you can cause them to *cease to exist*???
if i could filter the waking world half as easily as i/ignore,/gag, and/block, i'd be living in paradise. Camera Obscura for the masses & rose-tinted glasses. You can, if you really want, slog through the endless mire of idiocy and probably have a stroke - or, you can um, you know, not look at that crap.
I mean seriously. You KNOW there are people in the central United States who've never seen an ocean, believe the Earth to be 5000 years old, and that fossils are Tests Of Our Faith. You know they're there. But do you spend all day listening to them just to drive yourself mad? HELL no. So why obsess over the semiliterate hormonally-ravaged products of our nation's public schools?
I've been meeting folks, hearing new sounds, finding bands to see and even getting gigs locally thanks to a healthy mix of craigslist musician listings and the myspace music network. Are both of those locations filled with garbage in other categories? Hell yes. Is anyone forcing you to absorb the crap with the useful bits? Hell no. And yes, i said 'healthy,' 'myspace' and 'craigslist' in the same breath, will wonders never cease.
If you're going to get that bent about the *principle* of stupid people, you're going to have a heart attack by 35. They've always been there; you can now just see them easier, is all. You still have the option to filter them from your personal reality, tho. Isn't that nice?
This is point defense. It's cool, but it's not a force field; more like a 'sensor net.' Proximity field. Whatever, insert your favorite bastardized sci-fi term.
Slashdot Mirror
Er... no, i think we're meant to infer that the students in this real, actual, non-theoretical case, were hacking the setup to install and play games, and trashing the operating system... and now they aren't. *shrug*
Or, working with your statement, i think it's fair to say we can infer that non-windows systems are harder to hack than windows systems by your average high school student. Which, while more qualified a statement than yours, is still not something for Microsoft to brag about, right..?
Incidentally, if as some have predicted the result of this is that the kids start learning how to get around in non-windows systems, i say GOOD. Then they'll be learning more than how to evade the "proxy settings" in explorer and playing stupid flash games online. They might actually have a concept of file systems and how computers operate 'n' stuff.
I know. That's why I found it fascinating. I had to double-check the date to make sure it wasn't a leftover April Fools' story...
And of course, now that Someone Influential has gone all Chicken Little on Microsoft, the story's spreading around and inspiring spinoffs. Google News is grabbing about 40 last time I looked. I'm as interested in this effect as I am in the story itself. Maybe more.
Our new head honcho, Mayor Nutter... yes, that it is real name... just implemented this on the 5th.
411911 indeed. Other than wondering just what the actual volume will be - will i get a (for me, charged) text every time there's a "severe weather alert" i.e. RAIN, frex - do i really wanna give City Hall my cell number? Or is the feeling of extra exposure just an illusion..?Re: "do no evil."
"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke
Is this some kind of inevitable, organizational entropy that accumulates as companies become larger and more ambitious - or is that just what growing, influential orgs tell themselves once they realize they like being growing, influential orgs?
Either way, it's disappointing.
If the "lessons" are as well thought-out and written as TFA, then yeah, as most people suspect, we have Another Empty Gesture To Feel Morally Sup- Uh I Mean Save The Children (and TFA shoulda used the Preview button... sheesh :P ).
On the other hand... i teach at a tech school... and you gotta remember that all the info we steep ourselves in daily and take for granted is not sought out by most people. Its existence, i would even assert, is not really even GUESSED at by most people - judging by the reactions of students when i go into Spam, Malware, identity theft, internet scams, botnets... most people have NO idea about 99% of the stuff we just assume is part of reality.
I'm serious, and i was midly surprised at first - Students range from late teens to un- or underemployed adults seeking retraining - but it turns out, reading tech websites isn't a popular pastime with urban teens and young adults.
Amazingly, also, even though most teens to 20somethings are well known for believing themselves indestructible and invincible, they don't stop and pause in the face of sobering anecdotes about how Bad Things Happen To (other) People, even when it happens on the internet.
Bottom line: we keep whining about the "ignorant users." Okay. We hate when they make stupid choices. All right. We roll our eyes when they display their ineptitude. Fair enough.
Hmm, maybe they should... take a class or something?
Gotta start somewhere. And if this program manages to pound through the collective skulls of just a FEW of these kids that they need to be as careful on the internet as they should be anywhere else, i'll call it a GOOD start.
I think parent and gp are partly right, but... i also think availability begets use.
:D ) give it a try.
Like with music, streaming video, and other forms of content creation, people who'd never really think of producing their own stuff (and maybe shouldn't
There are web comics, indie movies, the Machinima crowd... i can see high-end CGI rendered shorts becoming as common as Flash animation.
Yeah it's only one example, but i guess my point is that lots of things happen that aren't thought of before they occur. There's a *lot* of people out there. Give them tools they never had before, and it won't be long before we get a surprise.
Hmm, this situation rings a bell...
woah dude! Go read the new post if you haven't! :O
Translation: "aaaarrrrrghhhh help us jeebus no geez ack please remaining loyal customers don't gooooooo we're having that VP troutslapped in the basement as penance we lub you we like you! (we need you to fixourcra^H^H^H^H^H^H (we lub working with 'independent third parties,' really we doooooo....!)"
I think calling it "defensive" is an understatement of British proportions. "Desperately, sweatily, forehead-slappingly afraid" might be closer...
i see three levels of issue here - the first one is, assuming no one reads the data who isn't "supposed to," and no one who is supposed to ever abuses that information access, what are the privacy implications?
Secondly, what if the authorized yet fallible humans with access to this data abuse it?
Thirdly, and the one that IMHO needs to be addressed first, is when those who are unauthorized are able to access the information. Not just for the obvious reasons: hacking this info may or may not be easy/feasible/desirable/whatever. But because now those mere-mortal humans who would be authorized and accountable, and already know the system, would be able to not just abuse that information, but leave no trail. Or blame ebil terrists and h4x0rs for it, even better.
Consider: yes, there could be a physical threat, but i'm more worried about yet another vector of information harvesting and tracking. Hello, Mr. Political Dissident, where do you drive? With whom do you associate? How long were you parked there? With sufficient coverage, can i track you in real time like an involuntary GPS?
If employees with access would poke through candidates' passport files, what would they try to get away with THIS in place? (That sound you hear is the Secret Service twitching. I imagine any and all official gummint vehicles have this system neutered - or at least i would HOPE so!)
Bad enough i have to deal with people tracking me online. There is no benefit and no excuse to having this information broadcast in the clear. Bottom line, any system that's approved and authorized to get this info could still get it (and whether we'd want that is another debate) - but don't force me to make it easy and unaccountable.
nyud.net = smoldering ruin in T-minus 5, 4, 3...
I have no idea what's going to happen, 'cause i have no clear picture of the structure of Standard Norge and what role / authority / voice the dissenting committee members have. Are the members supposed to be the final say? Or was it a much better organized con game - like, verbal assurances that "oh of course we'll listen to your majority opinion either way," but with no legal obligation to do so? And why does this suddenly remind me of the electoral college :P
Gonna be quite a brouhaha, and i don't think it's hyperbole to declare this a watershed event in the future and credibility of corporate-driven international standards.
looks like we've obliterated the poor thing already :(.
er... ok, taking your identity at your word, what is your definition of a "company-wide problem?" X out of every Y workstations needs Z% of its software to be illegal...? A signed order to steal software by the CEO?
Personally, i think the phrase "company-wide problem" is meaningless anyway. Someone was in charge - IT department, company division, one OFFICE, it doesn't matter how high or how low - and it was their responsibility. Take away the "wide:" it is a COMPANY problem.
I've been a sysadmin for companies, and we (IT) would occasionally have to reject users, managers, and even C-levels who wanted "just a copy or two" or their favorite software installed without proper licensing. We were responsible for it, we were responsible for explaining the liability and ethical issues behind our decision not to do it, and the company would be responsible for it. Period.
To quote Mr. Bierce, "Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility." They follow the inverse of the just-following-orders excuse: some underling did it, we didn't know, it's not our fault, it's not policy, it's an isolated insident, we aren't responsible.
Yes you are.
Ok, in Creative's little "approach sand, insert head" post, two things leap out at me:
:P. Le sigh.
:( oh well.
"By enabling our technology and IP to run on sound cards for which it was not originally offered or intended, you are in effect, stealing our goods."
Um what? I've bought the bloody thing and it's mine / i've licensed its use. If i use my old CDs for drink coasters, how is that "stealing" something i've already paid you for? More to the point, if you sold me something originally stating its capabilities as A, B, and C, and now you tell me it's only A, haven't *you* stolen from *me*??
Although i fear the official legal reality supports their inane statement
"When you solicit donations for providing packages like this, you are profiting from something that you do not own."
Er well. That's different. Asking for donations for his work guaranteed a response from Creative. Tactical error there, mate. We'll never know what Creative would have done if he simply freely distributed them and never mentioned money, and Daniel_K has less options to respond.
After careful consideration, sir, I've come to the conclusion that your system sucks.
Did anyone else fall over laughing at that "$20bn a year" bit? How'd they arrive at that carefully calculated number: "gee, i'd sure like 20 billyun dollarz lol." Honestly, if the major ISPs have any brains left at all (debatable, i realize), i don't see them going for this. "Hey can you be the bad guys, charge your customers more, sell them on it, and pass most of the profits on to us? Kthxbye."
I expect the RIAA and their ilk are just going to get weirder and more invasive like this as time goes on, especially if they perceive their powers fading. They say they love a free market, but they love a captive audience more.
> "Enceladus' brew is like carbonated water with an essence of natural gas," said Waite.
Gawd, i knew it. The primordial hell-brew of the universe is Mountain Dew.
I, for one, welcome our new Hegemonizing Swarm overlords.
of course, while we all greatly enjoyed following the speccing out and design of these machines, the tech was the easy part. I sincerely hope there's the right follow-thru in training, and not one-shot "here's your crash course in the 21st century g'luck buhbye," but ongoing support and training.
I worked at a "high tech" charter school for a while; from laying the cable in the new building, to several months after it opened and class started. It was a mess. All too typical "let's throw technology at a problem and it will Magically Solve Everything By Itself!" Good intentions, poor execution. Hardly anyone on the *staff* had any technical ability. Infrastructure and purchasing decisions were made from political standpoint and funder's/administrations ego trip, not what might be best to introduce people to a completely new world for them. You've seen it all before...
I'm privileged to be teaching nowadays in a similar mission; un- or underemployed adults trying to retrain, at-risk youth, most with little or no technical background or even experience beyond webmail and IM. We take so much of our know-how for granted, it's easy to forget how arcane this is to most people. I guess i'm just saying, i hope the approach doesn't fall into "teach the same stuff the same way but we're reading off a screen instead of paper," y'know?
But here's hoping. And pretty darn cool. That pic of those two kids on those funky green plastic laptops gave me a sudden image of A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer [wikipedia.org] :D
>> there is no such thing as free software
> Like the people in the RIAA, Microsoft just doesn't get it.
I disagree. I mean, you're right in what you say, but i believe that the RIAA and Microsoft get it just fine. They also get that more people realizing that there are, in fact, patentless and open, collaborative, "enlightened self-interest" or self-motivated or any other reason and model of development we like, pursue, and flaunt in front of restrictive structures like MS and the RIAA... they get that these are threats to their inherent rights to live like kings.
When you hear them say something like this and your eyebrows furrow... remember. They aren't stupid. They're not saying it to YOU. They're saying it to be heard, over and over again, by people who might be dangerously close to hearing about alternatives. They're reinforcing their worldview by repeating it as fact, with conviction and a straight face. I think it's called "propaganda" or maybe "social engineering."
Sometimes "marketing."
"However, wearing something like this on my head would make me look kind of silly in the business world."
:D
Kind of like sticking a little Borg-like flashing widget behind your ear and walking down the street talking to thin air?
From what I can see, what is acceptable in the business world morphs as something becomes popular, useful, or trendy with the C-levels. The first adopters will be snickered at; and then if it becomes as ubiquitous as iPods and bluetooth Borg-earpieces, those same snickerers will rush right out and get theirs. Some of them will even brag about how early they got in on it. People are funny.
i know it's fashionable and noble to take any opportunity to denounce someone's drug use, but fact is, phil had more issues than a newsstand. Go read VALIS...
the flip side of your coin is maybe the mainstream would make better visionaries if they tried a dangerous chemical now and then besides alcohol, tobacco, the atmosphere, and the opiate of the masses...
so does winterblink, but he's too modest to say so ^^
i think this is more to illuminate the idea Google and others try to spread that paid links != dubious links. Guess what, America! Nothing's more dubious than a bought-and-paid-for "looka me i'm beyond reproach" tag!
Dude, THAT'S THE POINT! Same goes on any online game, shared space, chatroom, mailing list, or what-have-you: why waste mental clockcycles on idiots when you can cause them to *cease to exist*???
if i could filter the waking world half as easily as i /ignore, /gag, and /block, i'd be living in paradise. Camera Obscura for the masses & rose-tinted glasses. You can, if you really want, slog through the endless mire of idiocy and probably have a stroke - or, you can um, you know, not look at that crap.
I mean seriously. You KNOW there are people in the central United States who've never seen an ocean, believe the Earth to be 5000 years old, and that fossils are Tests Of Our Faith. You know they're there. But do you spend all day listening to them just to drive yourself mad? HELL no. So why obsess over the semiliterate hormonally-ravaged products of our nation's public schools?
I've been meeting folks, hearing new sounds, finding bands to see and even getting gigs locally thanks to a healthy mix of craigslist musician listings and the myspace music network. Are both of those locations filled with garbage in other categories? Hell yes. Is anyone forcing you to absorb the crap with the useful bits? Hell no. And yes, i said 'healthy,' 'myspace' and 'craigslist' in the same breath, will wonders never cease.
If you're going to get that bent about the *principle* of stupid people, you're going to have a heart attack by 35. They've always been there; you can now just see them easier, is all. You still have the option to filter them from your personal reality, tho. Isn't that nice?
This is point defense. It's cool, but it's not a force field; more like a 'sensor net.' Proximity field. Whatever, insert your favorite bastardized sci-fi term.
THIS is a force field, and it's 4 years old:
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/8/19/12550/648http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/08/19/boffins_i
http://www.thebirdman.org/Index/Others/Others-Doc